As another "guy with experience"... am I the only person who played with ankle sprains?

With a grade I, it's possible, especially if you use an ankle brace. Even taped ankles would help. With a grade II or grade III, the ankle isn't stable and is unable to weight bear.

Often, with severe sprains, once the ligaments have healed and swelling has reduced, patients will have limited dorsal movement in the ankle, and it may take another week or two of rehab to get that back. You can play with the ankle, but there is a much higher chance of re-injury. So, it's best to wait until you've got your range of motion back.

They're now saying it's not that bad, meaning it's probably a grade I sprain, and I would expect 2-3ish weeks to heal enough for him to play, likely with an ankle brace. Hard to tell with the limited information though...

As another "guy with experience"... am I the only person who played with ankle sprains?

I'm positive you never played with a high ankle sprain.

Again, if it's a grade I, with a brace and some pain killers, it's more than possible. Not a smart thing to do, as the damage you can cause is not worth it, but...

I think the problem here is people not realizing the difference between a slight sprain and a bad sprain. Stretched ligaments and completely torn ligaments -- Big difference.

Also, kenney, there is a big difference between an ankle sprain (your everyday rolling the foot inwards) and a high ankle sprain. The ligaments are a lot bigger and recovery time is almost twice as long. With a high ankle sprain, if there is any tearing of the ligament at all (not just stretching), then at the very least the patient will be in an air cast for around 5-6 weeks. If there's enough damage that the ankle is unstable, surgery may be required, and that can mean 3-4 months before the ankle is healed enough to not have to worry about the screw breaking.